My alliterative weekend.

It's 11:17 PM and I just made it home about 20 minutes ago. I am very tired and happy to be back, but I had a fantastic weekend full of fun, family and friends, some of my closest friends whom I don't get to see very often.

The whole purpose of this trip to Arkansas was to surprise my brother. We threw him a party. It was a combined belated graduation celebration and a birthday extravaganza since his birthday was Monday the 23rd. It was so hard trying to keep it a secret. There were many times when I almost slipped over the past month, but we successfully managed to keep him in the dark right up until he walked into the room. It was great.

To distract him yesterday while the party palooza was being put together, he and I went and spent several hours at the house of some of our friends whom we met in home school band and hadn't seen in a rather long time. It was fun. We played cards. Lots of cards. I like cards.

This morning we went to church with my grandmother, to the church I was born into, the church my mother was born into. It's always nice to go back for a visit. I'm the sappy nostalgic type, and I have many fond memories there. One thing I've grown to appreciate going back there is the opportunity to sing hymns. That's one thing that I feel is lacking from my regular church experience, we don't sing enough hymns. And not only did we just sing hymns, we sang what is quite possibly my favorite hymn, "How Great Thou Art." (We also sang my least favorite hymn, "Mansion Over The Hilltop," but we'll not get into that.) I actually thought I was about to cry a couple of times during the service. It was a good morning.

Every time me or anyone in my family is at that church they always ask us to sing. Today was no different. We had nothing planned, even though we should know better by now, but my mother, brother and I sang "Shall We Gather At the River" together once several years ago, so we decided to do that. It was a very unpolished, on-the-spot version, but everyone was very gracious and we got many compliments and thank-yous. No matter how many compliments and thank-yous I've gotten, they're always nice to hear. They never get old and I appreciate every one.

In the car after church, my dearest downhere came on the radio. "Here I Am" was the song. This time, I actually did cry. Tears were rolling and I was trying to sing along, but I was pretty choked up so it wasn't the greatest sing-along in the world. I don't think anyone was listening though.

The last highlight I'll mention is the fact that when we got home there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground. A good six inches, probably. That's quite a feat for Middle Tennessee. It was a very nice welcome home and made me smile. (And of course, we had to get the most snow of the season at the end of February/first of March. Isn't spring supposed to be right around the corner?)

Now it is time for me to go to sleep. What with getting up at 4 AM yesterday and all the driving and the staying up late and excitement, I am worn out. And I have to be up to get ready for school in about 7 hours. But I'm not complaining. It was all worth it.